Emergency mode for mobile devices

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses for emergency modes for a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone) are described. The mobile device may receive sonic signals indicative of a voice of a person uttering words and identify the person as an authorized user. The mobile device may determine that the words correlate with an emergency situation from a set of predefined emergency situations. Further, the mobile device may determine that the emergency situation satisfies a threshold. The mobile device may perform one or more tasks (e.g., making a phone call to an emergency service), after determining that the emergency situation has satisfied the threshold. In some cases, the mobile device may monitor physiological signals of the person and/or collect additional data to increase a confidence level associated with making the determination. In some cases, the mobile device may leverage or include an artificial intelligence algorithm/engine to facilitate managing the emergency modes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/891,572, filed Jun. 3, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,153,739, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to mobile devices, and moreparticularly relates to managing emergency modes for mobile devices.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices (e.g., cellular phones) are widely deployed, assistingusers in many aspects of their daily lives. For example, the users maystore various information about their contacts (e.g., phone numbers ofindividuals, business entities, and/or public authorities) such thatthey can conveniently reach out to their contacts using the informationstored in the mobile devices. In some instances, the users may faceemergency situations that require immediate assistance from a familymember, a care person, and/or emergency response personnel (e.g., 911response team). Making an emergency call, however, typically requiresseveral physical inputs, such as unlocking the mobile devices, bringinga pertinent screen and/or application, touching a keypad, or the like.It would be beneficial for the users if they can make emergency callswithout having to provide such physical inputs to the mobile devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an information structure diagram fororganizing emergency situations that supports emergency modes for mobiledevices in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram including a mobile device thatsupports emergency modes in accordance with embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods for emergency modesfor mobile devices in accordance with embodiments of the presenttechnology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Mobile devices (e.g., cellular phones, mobile phones) provide convenientmeans to users in various situations, such as managing personalinformation, making phone calls, getting driving directions guided by aglobal positioning system (GPS), sharing digital contents through socialnetworking services (SNS), etc. A user of such a mobile device may needto make an emergency call, which typically requires the user to performseveral operations directed to the mobile device. For example, the usermay have to unlock the mobile device, activate a relevant application(e.g., a directory application storing numerous phone numbers, a phoneapplication showing a keypad when the user memorizes a specific numberto call) to bring a pertinent screen and to provide physical inputsthereto (e.g., pressing or touching the keypad on the screen), or thelike. In some cases, however, the user may not be able to use hands toaccess and/or control the mobile device—e.g., physically restrainedunder a threat, overwhelmed under certain medical conditions, injured byan accident, etc. It would be beneficial for the user to be able to makeemergency calls without having to provide physical inputs to the mobiledevice.

Several embodiments of the present technology may facilitate users ofmobile devices making emergency calls through voice activation withoutusing their hands. Moreover, the present technology may be useful forindividuals having limited access to the mobile devices (e.g., youngchildren, people with disabilities) to make emergency calls. In someembodiments, the mobile device may be configured to receive sonicsignals indicative of a voice of a person (e.g., monitoring the voice ofthe person) uttering one or more words (e.g., the sonic signals and/orthe voice as part of a biometric identifier of the person), which maynot constitute a full sentence in some cases. In this regard, the mobiledevice may be configured to identify the person as an authorized user ofthe mobile device based on the received sonic signals (e.g., voice). Thewords are correlated with one of a set of predefined emergencysituations stored in the mobile device, the mobile device may determine.Moreover, the mobile device may determine whether the emergencysituation satisfies a threshold associated with the emergency situation.Such a threshold, when satisfied, may cause the mobile device to performcertain tasks (e.g., making a phone call). The threshold may facilitatereducing a likelihood of making false (or otherwise unintentional)emergency calls. Further, the mobile device may be configured toestimate a confidence level in determining that the emergency situationsatisfies the threshold—e.g., based on the words uttered by the person.

In some cases, the mobile device may increase the confidence level bycollecting and/or evaluating additional information. For example, themobile device may monitor signals related physiological signs of theperson from a separate wearable device that the person may carry—e.g.,heart rate, perspiration rate, muscle tone and/or piloerection, etc.Additionally, or alternatively, the mobile device may collect data, suchas a geographic location of the mobile device (and/or informationdirected to the surrounding areas of the location), current time of theday, or the like. As a result of evaluating the additional informationrelevant to determining whether the emergency situation satisfies thethreshold, the mobile device may increase the confidence level. In somecases, the mobile device may be configured to recognize and/or utilizecontextual information (e.g., implications of certain words, manners inwhich the words are spoken) in determining that the person (theauthorized user) is in an emergency situation that warrants making anemergency call.

Subsequently, the mobile device may perform certain tasks (e.g., makingone or more phone calls) based on making such determination. In thisregard, the mobile device may be configured to perform different tasksbased on severity of the emergency situations. For example, the mobiledevice may place a phone call to the 911 service, requestinglaw-enforcement officers and/or paramedic personnel to be dispatchedwhen the emergency situation requires immediate attention. In otherexamples, the mobile device may place a phone call to a family memberand/or a friend (whose phone numbers are stored in the mobile device anddesignated with certain emergency situations) to come over to assist theperson (e.g., bringing certain medications, helping with an injuryand/or providing a ride to a hospital for the injury). In yet anotherexample, the mobile device may place a phone call to a teacher and/or acampus safety hotline to diffuse a bullying situation. Further, themobile device may be configured to make such phone calls withoutproviding an indication that a phone call is being placed, whenproviding the indication might aggravate the emergency situation.

An information structure diagram that supports emergency modes formobile devices in accordance with embodiments of the present technologyis shown in FIG. 1 . Such an information structure may facilitateorganizing predefined emergency situations stored in a memory of themobile device. A block diagram of a mobile device that supportsemergency modes for mobile devices in accordance with embodiments of thepresent technology are described with reference to FIG. 2 . Flowchartsillustrating methods for emergency modes for mobile devices inaccordance with embodiments of the present technology are described withreference to FIGS. 3 and 4 .

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an information structure diagram 100organizing emergency situations that supports emergency modes for mobiledevices in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. Theinformation structure may facilitate organizing predefined emergencysituations stored in a memory of a mobile device. The diagram 100includes a set of predefined emergency situations 110 (e.g., emergencysituations 110 a through 110 c shown for illustration purposes) storedin the mobile device. The diagram 100 also includes a set of phrases115, which includes multiple subsets 120 (e.g., subsets 120 a through120 c shown for illustration purposes) that each have one or morephrases of the set. Further, the diagram illustrates a group of contacts125, which includes multiple subgroups 130 (e.g., subgroups 130 athrough 130 c shown for illustration purposes) that each have one ormore contacts of the group.

Although the diagram 100 depicts three (3) emergency situations, thepresent technology is not limited thereto. For example, in someembodiments, the information structure may include a less (e.g., two (2)or one (1)) or a greater quantity (e.g., four (4) or five (5), or evenmore) of emergency situations. Further, the contacts included inindividual subgroups 130 may not be mutually exclusive—e.g., thesubgroup 130 a and the subgroup 130 b may include a common contact.Accordingly, the common contact (e.g., a particular family member) mayreceive a phone call for the emergency situation 110 a or the emergencysituation 110 b, or both.

Individual emergency situations depicted in the diagram 100 (e.g.,emergency situation 110 a, emergency situation 110 b, emergencysituation 110 c) may represent different emergency situations, which mayrange from a life-threatening emergency situation (e.g., an armedrobbery, a domestic violence involving physical assault) to a relativelybenign emergency situation (e.g., fell from stairs, ran out of certainmedications, being bullied by strangers). In some embodiments, anauthorized user of the mobile device may predefine such emergencysituations and store them in the mobile device. Further, differentemergency situations may be assigned (designated or allocated) withdifferent thresholds, which may cause the mobile device to performcertain tasks (e.g., placing an emergency call) when satisfied. Also,determining whether a particular emergency situation satisfies aparticular threshold assigned it, may be associated with a confidencelevel.

In some embodiments, the authorized user may predetermine one or morephrases (e.g., the set of phrases 115) that are associated withindividual emergency situations, and store them in the mobile device.Such phrases (or statements) may encompass a wide range of expressions,such as “Please don't kill me,” “Take all my money but don't hurt me,”“I can show you where my jewelry and money,” to list a few, as examplesto illustrate aspects of the present technology. The predeterminedphrases may be classified into multiple subsets (e.g., the subsets 120 athrough 120 c) that each correspond to one of the predefined emergencysituations (e.g., the emergency situations 110 a through 110 c). In someembodiments, the mobile device may ascertain (e.g., determine, identify,confirm) that the one or more words uttered by the authorized usercorrespond to one of the predetermined phrases to determine that thewords correlate with one of the predefined emergency situations.Additionally, or alternatively, the mobile device may be configured toutilize contextual information to correlate the words with an emergencysituation—e.g., implications of certain words to distinguish a medicalemergency from an emergency situation associated with domestic violence,manners in which certain words are spoken by the authorized user todifferentiate a desperate, life-threatening emergency from a relativelybenign emergency situation. In this manner, the mobile device maydetermine that one or more words uttered by the authorized usercorrelate with one of the predefined emergency situations.

In some cases, the phrases may include certain groups of words (e.g.,“not my children,” “my jewelry and money,” “don't hurt me”) that themobile device is configured to distinguish out of various statements,which may function as a hidden (or otherwise carrying a disparate and/orincomprehensible meaning) passcode for the mobile device to initiateoperations to determine whether the person is in an emergency situation.Such phrases, in some cases, may include collections ofinnocuous-sounding words such that a perpetrator may not realize thewords are discreet code for the mobile device to recognize.Additionally, or alternatively, the phrases may include one or morewords in a language indigenous to the authorized user. In this manner,the authorized user may speak in his/her mother tongue (e.g., a firstlanguage) in an emergency situation, instead of a second language thatthe mobile device is configured to operate with. Further, the authorizeduser may hide or otherwise obscure his/her attempts to place anemergency call by speaking in the first language that a third party(e.g., a robber) may not comprehend, when encountered with a clear andpresent threat from the third party.

The group of contacts 125 included in the diagram 100 may include avariety of emergency contacts and their phone numbers, such as a 911dispatch station, a campus safety hotline, one or more family members,friends, care-providers, etc. The mobile device may make a phone callusing the phone number included in the contacts (e.g., an emergencyservice, a public authority), based on determining that the emergencysituation satisfied the threshold. In some embodiments, the phone callmay include information associated with the emergency situation, such asa description of the emergency situation, a geographic location of themobile device (thus, the location of the emergency situation), currenttime, or the like. In some cases, the phone call may include a messageto a recipient of the call requesting not to make a return call to themobile device—e.g., when such a return call may jeopardize the user orescalate the emergency situation. In some examples, the mobile devicemay announce that the mobile device is making such a phone call—e.g., toprovide an affirmation to the user, to give an emotional and/or mentalsupport for the user to endure the emergency situation, etc. In otherexamples, the mobile device may not provide an indication that it ismaking a call—e.g., to avoid aggravating the emergency situation bywarning an aggressor creating the emergency.

By way of example, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone) may receivesonic signals indicative of a voice of a person (e.g., monitor theperson's voice, which may be part of a biometric identifier of theperson that the mobile device can recognize) uttering one or more words(e.g., “I can show you where my jewelry and money,” “don't hurt me,”etc.). Subsequently, the mobile device may identify, based the receivedsonic signals, the person as an authorized user of the mobile device.The mobile device may determine, based on the received sonic signals,that the one or more words correlate with an emergency situation (e.g.,the emergency situation 110 b depicted in the diagram 100) out of a setof predefined emergency situations (e.g., the set of predefinedemergency situations 110) stored in the mobile device. In this regard,determining the one or more words correlate with the emergency situationmay include determining that the one or more words correspond to aphrase from a set of phrases (e.g., Phrase 5 of the subset 120 b).Additionally, or alternatively, the mobile device may utilize contextualinformation associated with the one or more words to determine that oneof the emergency situations is correlated with the words. As eachindividual phrase of the set of phrases 115 is coupled with one of thepredefined emergency situations (e.g., Phrase 5 indicating EmergencySituation B as depicted in the diagram 100), the mobile device maydetermine that the person is in the emergency situation (e.g., EmergencySituation B).

Further, the mobile device may determine that the emergency situationsatisfies a threshold, at least based on the one or more words in somecases, before performing one or more tasks that may follow—e.g., placinga phone call to one of the contacts in the subgroup 130 b correspondingto the emergency situation 110 b. As set forth herein, such a thresholdmay facilitate the mobile device to avoid falsely determining anemergency situation and making calls, which may be considered frivolousor prank (e.g., making unintentional calls to the 911 dispatch station).For example, a threshold may be established based on a quantity of wordsmatching between one of the predetermined phrases and the one or morewords that the person has uttered. In some cases, different emergencysituations may be assigned (allocated or designated) with differentthresholds.

Moreover, determining that the emergency situation satisfies thethreshold may be associated with a confidence level that the mobiledevice may be configured to estimate. Variations in such a confidencelevel may stem from uncertainties for the mobile device may encounterwhile determining whether the emergency situation satisfies thethreshold. For example, when the mobile device does not find exactmatching words (e.g., despite one or more words that the mobile devicemonitored are similar to the words in one of the predetermined phrases)and/or when the mobile device finds the words uttered by the person in aparticular order that is different from the sequence of words expectedby one of the predetermined phrases, the mobile device may assign arelatively low confidence level in determining that the emergencysituation satisfied the threshold.

In some embodiments, the mobile device may monitor one or morephysiological signals of the person (and/or changes in the physiologicalsignals) via a separate device the person wears (e.g., a smartwrist-band wirelessly coupled with the mobile device). Suchphysiological signals may include heart rates, blood pressure,respiration rate and/or depth, piloerection, body temperature, muscletone, perspiration, or the like. In some cases, changes in physiologicalsignals of the person may be accompanied with unnatural speech patternsof the person such as stuttering, stammering, or screaming—e.g., due toextreme adversity and/or tension that the person may face. Accordingly,the mobile device may be configured to recognize such unnatural speechpatterns of the person. As a result of utilizing the one or morephysiological signals (and/or the changes thereof, or the speechpattern) in addition to the one or more words the person has uttered,the mobile device may increase the confidence level, in some cases.

Additionally, or alternatively, the mobile device may collect data, suchas a geographic location of the mobile device that may be determined bya GPS coupled with the mobile device, information associated with thegeographic location (e.g., a shopping mall corresponding to thegeographic location, a parking structure corresponding to the geographiclocation, a lighting condition based on sunrise and/or sunset times atthe geographic location), current time of the day (e.g., middle ofafternoon, late at night), or a combination thereof. In some cases, themobile device may collect additional data associated with surroundingareas of the geographic location, such as crime rates and/or businessentities in a near-by area including the geographic location, or thelike. As a result of utilizing the additional data in addition to theone or more words the person has uttered, the mobile device may increasethe confidence level.

In some cases, the mobile device may be configured to recognize and/orutilize contextual information (e.g., implications of certain words,manners in which the words are spoken) in determining that the person(the authorized user) is in an emergency situation that warrants makingan emergency call. In an embodiment, the contextual information may beutilized to increase the confidence level, in addition to the one ormore words the person has uttered. In another embodiments, thecontextual information may be utilized to determine that the one or morewords the person has uttered correlate with an emergency situation outof the predefined emergency situations stored in the mobile device—e.g.,when the one or more words correspond to one phrase from the subset 120a, as well as another phrase from the subset 120 b.

The mobile device may perform one or more tasks—e.g., placing a phonecall to one of the contacts (e.g., Contact 4 depicted in the diagram100) in the subgroup 130 b corresponding to the emergency situation 110b, after determining that the emergency situation satisfies thethreshold. In some cases, the mobile device may select a first phonenumber (e.g., a first phone number of Contact 4) to place a phone callover a second phone number (e.g., a second phone number of Contact 5)based on various factors, such as past response history when emergencycalls were placed to the phone numbers, geographic locations of thecontacts with respect to the current geographic location of the mobiledevice, a preference predetermined by the person, or the like. In somecases, the mobile device may place multiple phone calls based on a setof suitable criteria—e.g., concurrently making phone calls to two (ormore) phone numbers of a subgroup of contacts determined to be morerelevant than other numbers in the subgroup based on, for example, thepast history, the geographic location, the preconfigured preference, orthe like. In some cases, when one or more calls are not answered, themobile device may repeat calling the same phone number and/or make acall to a different phone number in the subgroup.

In some embodiments, the one or more tasks that the mobile device mayperform, in some cases based on determining that the emergency situationhas satisfied the threshold, include analyzing additional phrases (orstatements) monitored by the mobile device. Such phrases may be from theperson (e.g., the authorized user) or a third party (e.g., an aggressor)around the mobile device. In some cases, the mobile device may start torecord the additional phrases based on determining that the emergencysituation has satisfied the threshold.

In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to include orotherwise leverage an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and/or anAI engine. For example, the AI algorithm/engine may improve voiceactivation of the emergency modes for the mobile device—e.g.,determining that the person is an authorized user based on the voice(e.g., sonic signals indicated of the voice). Additionally, oralternatively, the AI algorithm/engine may be utilized in decisionmaking—e.g., determining whether the one or more words correlate with anemergency situation out of the predefined emergency situations stored inthe mobile device, determining whether the emergency situation satisfiesa threshold based on the one or more words, increasing a confidencelevel associated with determining that the emergency situation satisfiesthe threshold, etc. Further, the AI algorithm/engine may be utilized totranslate one or more words spoken in the user's first language (e.g.,indigenous language to the user) to a second language that the mobiledevice is configured to operate with. Such an AI algorithm and/or enginemay improve a likelihood of determining a relevant emergency situationout of the predefined emergency situations when the one or more wordsthe mobile device monitored are not distinctively clear and/or the oneor more words fails to provide a sufficiently high confidence level,even when the mobile device utilizes additional data described herein.

In some embodiments, the phrases included in individual subsets ofphrases 120 may not be mutually exclusive—e.g., the subset 120 a and thesubset 120 b may include a common phrase to both. Accordingly, themobile device may be configured to further refine its decision-makingprocess—e.g., to determine whether certain words uttered by the personbetter correlate with the emergency situation 110 a or the emergencysituation 110 b. In this regard, the mobile device may utilizeadditional information—e.g., the physiological signals of the person,the geographical and/or circumstantial information of an areasurrounding the location, the contextual information, or a combinationthereof. In some cases, the AI algorithm/engine may be utilized inaddition to such additional information to determine which emergencysituation the user may be in. In other embodiments, the mobile devicemay detect identical phrases in different subsets of phrases 120—e.g.,during the user predetermines the set of phrases 115, and may prompt theuser to provide an adequate distinction (e.g., additional words in oneof the phrases) between the phrases to differentiate similar phrasessuch that the mobile device may make an accurate determination as towhich emergency situation the user may be in.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 including a mobile device 210that supports emergency modes in accordance with embodiments of thepresent technology. The diagram 200 also includes a person 205 and awearable device 245 that the person 205 may carry. Further, the mobiledevice 210 may be wirelessly coupled with the wearable device 245 (e.g.,via a wireless link 246) such that the mobile device 210 can communicatewith the wearable device 245 (e.g., via a transceiver 255). The mobiledevice 210 may be within a suitable distance from the person 205 suchthat the mobile device 210 may receive sonic signals indicative of avoice of the person 205 (e.g., monitor a voice of the person 205) whenthe person 205 utters one or more words. The mobile device 210 includesa memory 215 and circuitry 220 that includes a monitoring component 225,an authenticating component 230, an emergency component 235. Moreover,the mobile device 210 may include the transceiver 255 that includes atransmitter 256 and a receiver 257. In some embodiments, the mobiledevice 210 may further include an artificial intelligence (AI) component240, as well as an emergency button 260. Moreover, the mobile device 210may be coupled with a global positioning system (GPS) 250.

The memory 215 may be configured to store a set of predefined emergencysituations 270, a collection of recorded sonic signals indicative ofvoices 280 of one or more authorized users of the mobile device 210, aset of phrases 265 predetermined by an authorized user of the mobiledevice, a group of contacts 275 (e.g., phone numbers) entered by theauthorized user. The set of predefined emergency situations 270 may bean example of or include aspects of the set of predefined emergencysituations 110 described with reference to FIG. 1 . The set of phrases265 may be an example of or include aspects of the set of phrases 115described with reference to FIG. 1 . The group of contacts 275 may be anexample of or include aspects of the group of contacts 125 describedwith reference to FIG. 1 .

The circuitry 220 may be configured to receive sonic signals indicativeof a voice of a person 205 (e.g., monitoring the voice of the person205) uttering one or more words (e.g., via the monitoring component 225configured to monitor various sonic signals (e.g., sounds) around themobile device 210), and identify, based on the received sonic signals,the person as one of the authorized users of the mobile device 210(e.g., via the authenticating component 230 configured to determine oneor more authorized users having access to the mobile device 210). Insome embodiments, the circuitry 220 may compare the received sonicsignals of the person with the collection of recorded sonic signalsindicative of voices 280 stored in the memory 215 to identify the personas one of the authorized users. In some embodiments, the voice may bepart of a biometric identifier of the person 205 for the circuitry 220may utilize to authenticate the person 205. Such a biometric identifiermay include various biological trait of the person 205, such as a facialfeature, a fingerprint, palm prints, capillary structures (e.g., in auser's iris), or the like.

Subsequently, the circuitry 220 may determine (e.g., via the emergencycomponent 235 configured to identify a particular emergency situationbased on the words the person 205 utters) that the one or more wordscorrelate with an emergency situation out of the set of predefinedemergency situations 270. In some embodiments, the circuitry 220 maydetermine that the one or more words correspond to a phrase from the setof phrases 265 stored in the memory 215. In some embodiments, thecircuitry 220 may utilize contextual information associated with the oneor more words to determine one of the emergency situations is correlatedwith the words. Further, the circuitry 220 may determine that theemergency situation satisfies a threshold based on the one or morewords, where such a determination may be associated with a confidencelevel. The circuitry 220 may also perform one or more tasks, afterdetermining that the emergency situation satisfies the threshold.

In some embodiments, the circuitry 220 may be configured to monitor oneor more physiological signals (and/or changes thereof) of the person 205via the wearable device 245 that the person may wear. The wearabledevice 245 may be configured to monitor the one or more physiologicalsignals (and/or the changes thereof) and to transmit such signals to themobile device 210 (e.g., to the receiver 257 of the transceiver 255 viathe wireless link 246). The circuitry 220 may also be configured toutilize the one or more physiological signals (and/or the changesthereof), in addition to the one or more words uttered by the person 205to increase the confidence level, when determining that the emergencysituation satisfies the threshold.

Alternatively, or additionally, in some embodiments, the circuitry 220may be configured to collect data including a geographic location of themobile device 210 (e.g., via the GPS 250), information about thegeographic location, current time, or a combination thereof. Thecircuitry 220 may utilize the data in addition to the one or more wordsuttered by the person 205 to increase the confidence level, whendetermining that the emergency situation satisfies the threshold.

In some embodiments, the circuitry 220 may be further configured to makea phone call (e.g., via the transmitter 256 of the transceiver 255) toan emergency service and/or a public authority, where the phone callincludes a description of the emergency situation, a geographic locationof the mobile device 210, current time, a message requesting not to makea return call to the mobile device 210, or a combination thereof. Insome instances, placing such a return call may aggravate the emergencysituation. In other instances, the person 205 may not be able to answerthe return call to confirm the emergency situation. In some cases, thedescription of the emergency situation may include different messagesbased on different emergency situations. Further, the description of theemergency situation may indicate that the phone call is generated by themobile device 210 due to an emergency situation rendering the person 205unable to make the call. Additionally, or alternatively, the circuitry220 may be configured to make a phone call to a phone number from thegroup of contact 275 stored in the memory 215, where the phone number isassociated with the emergency situation. In some cases, the circuitry220 may be configured to understand a language indigenous to the person205.

In some embodiments, the emergency button 260 (which may be referred toas a panic button) may be located on a side surface (or a backside) ofthe mobile device 210. The emergency button 260 may exhibit aconspicuous color (e.g., red color). Further, the emergency button 260may be configured to be activated by a mechanical switching componentand/or by a software algorithm. The emergency button 260 may make one ormore phone calls to the contacts associated with the emergency button260 (e.g., phone numbers of contacts 261) when activated—e.g., to anemergency service and/or a public authority, to one or more individualsthat the user may designate, etc. The emergency button 260 may beactivated when the person 205 presses (and/or touches) it two or moretimes consecutively. In some embodiments, the emergency button 260 maybe covered under a lid. In this manner, the person 205 using the mobiledevice 210 may avoid making unintentional emergency calls by unwittinglyor accidentally activating the emergency button 260.

In some embodiments, the AI component 240 may include an AIalgorithm/engine to assist the circuitry 220 to make certaindetermination—e.g., determining whether the one or more words correlatewith an emergency situation out of the predefined emergency situations270 stored in the mobile device, determining whether the emergencysituation satisfies a threshold based on the one or more words,increasing a confidence level associated with determining that theemergency situation satisfies the threshold, etc. In some cases, the AIcomponent 240 may improve voice activation of the emergency modes forthe mobile device 210—e.g., determining that the person 205 is anauthorized user based on the voice (e.g., sonic signals indicative ofthe voice). Further, the AI component 240 may assist the circuitry 220to translate one or more words spoken in the user's first language(e.g., indigenous to the user) to a second language that the mobiledevice is configured to operate with.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart 300 illustrating a method for emergency modes formobile devices in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.The flowchart 300 may be an example of or include aspects of a methodthat a mobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210) may perform asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method includes receiving, at a mobile device, sonic signalsindicative of a voice of a person uttering one or more words (box 310).In accordance with one aspect of the present technology, the monitoringfeature of box 310 can be performed by a mobile device (e.g., the mobiledevice 210), in conjunction with the monitoring component 225 in somecases, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method further includes identifying, based on the received sonicsignals, the person as an authorized user of the mobile device (box315). In accordance with one aspect of the present technology, theidentifying feature of box 315 can be performed by a mobile device(e.g., the mobile device 210), in conjunction with the authenticatingcomponent 230 in some cases, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and2 .

The method further includes determining, based on the received sonicsignals, that the one or more words correlate with an emergencysituation out of a set of predefined emergency situations stored in themobile device (box 320). In accordance with one aspect of the presenttechnology, the determining feature of box 320 can be performed by amobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210), in conjunction with theemergency component 235 in some cases, as described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method further includes determining that the emergency situationsatisfies a threshold based, at least in part, on the one or more words,where determining that emergency situation satisfies the threshold isassociated with a confidence level (box 325). In accordance with oneaspect of the present technology, the determining feature of box 325 canbe performed by a mobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210), inconjunction with the circuitry 220 in some cases, as described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method further includes performing one or more tasks, afterdetermining that the emergency situation satisfies the threshold (box330). In accordance with one aspect of the present technology, theperforming feature of box 330 can be performed by a mobile device (e.g.,the mobile device 210), in conjunction with the circuitry 220 in somecases, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

In some embodiments, the method may further include comparing thereceived sonic signals indicative of the voice of the person with acollection of recorded sonic signals indicative of voices of one or moreauthorized users stored in the mobile device, where identifying theperson is based, at least in part, on comparing the received sonicsignals of the person with the collection of recorded sonic signals. Insome embodiments, determining that the one or more words correlate withthe emergency situation includes determining that the one or more wordscorrespond to a phrase from a set of phrases that have beenpredetermined and stored in the mobile device, where the set of phrasesincludes multiple subsets that each have one or more phrases of the set,and where each subset having the one or more phrases of the set isassociated with a predefined emergency situation of the plurality.

In some embodiments, the method may further include monitoring, afterdetermining that the one or more words correlate with the emergencysituation, changes in one or more physiological signals of the personvia a separate device the person wears, where the separate device iscoupled with the mobile device and configured to monitor the one or morephysiological signals. In some embodiments, determining that theemergency situation satisfies the threshold includes utilizing thechanges in the one or more physiological signals in addition to the oneor more words, and where the confidence level is increased as a resultof utilizing the changes in the one or more physiological signals.

In some embodiments, the method may further include collecting, afterdetermining that the one or more words correlate with the emergencysituation, data using the mobile device, the data including a geographiclocation of the mobile device, information about the geographiclocation, current time, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments,determining that the emergency situation satisfies the thresholdincludes utilizing the data in addition to the one or more words, andwhere the confidence level is increased as a result of utilizing thedata.

In some embodiments, the one or more tasks comprise making a phone callto an emergency service and/or a public authority, where the phone callincludes a description of the emergency situation, a geographic locationof the mobile device, current time, a message requesting not to make areturn call to the mobile device, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the one or more tasks comprise making a phone call to aphone number from a group of phone numbers stored in the mobile device,where the group of phone numbers includes multiple subgroups that eachhave one or more phone numbers of the group, and where each subgrouphaving the one or more phone numbers of the group is associated with apredefined emergency situation of the plurality.

In some embodiments, performing the one or more task is carried outwithout providing an indication that the mobile device performs the oneor more tasks. In some embodiments, the method may further includeannouncing that the one or more tasks have been performed, afterperforming the one or more tasks. In some embodiments, the one or morewords include a language indigenous to the person. In some embodiments,determining that the one or more words correlate with the emergencysituation includes utilizing contextual information associated with theone or more words.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 illustrating a method for emergency modes formobile devices in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.The flowchart 400 may be an example of or include aspects of a methodthat a mobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210) may perform asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method includes receiving sonic signals indicative of a voice of aperson uttering one or more words, the person authorized to use themobile device (box 410). In accordance with one aspect of the presenttechnology, the monitoring feature of box 410 can be performed by amobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210), in conjunction with themonitoring component 225 in some cases, as described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2 .

The method further includes determining that the one or more wordsindicate an emergency situation based on comparing the one or more wordswith a list of predetermined phrases stored in the mobile device (box415). In accordance with one aspect of the present technology, thedetermining feature of box 415 can be performed by a mobile device(e.g., the mobile device 210), in conjunction with the emergencycomponent 235 in some cases, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and2 .

The method further includes making a phone call to an emergency serviceand/or to a phone number stored in the mobile device for the emergencysituation, where the phone call includes a description of the emergencysituation, a geographic location of the mobile device, current time, amessage requesting not to make a return call to the mobile device, or acombination thereof (box 420). In accordance with one aspect of thepresent technology, the making feature of box 420 can be performed by amobile device (e.g., the mobile device 210), in conjunction with thecircuitry 220 in some cases, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and2 .

It should be noted that the methods described above describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Furthermore, embodiments from two or more of the methods may becombined.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Otherexamples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure andappended claims. Features implementing functions may also be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least oneof” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, forexample, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB orAC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase“based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set ofconditions. For example, an exemplary step that is described as “basedon condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition Bwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In otherwords, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in thesame manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments ofthe invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,but that various modifications may be made without deviating from thescope of the invention. Rather, in the foregoing description, numerousspecific details are discussed to provide a thorough and enablingdescription for embodiments of the present technology. One skilled inthe relevant art, however, will recognize that the disclosure can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures or operations often associated withmemory systems and devices are not shown, or are not described indetail, to avoid obscuring other aspects of the technology. In general,it should be understood that various other devices, systems, and methodsin addition to those specific embodiments disclosed herein may be withinthe scope of the present technology.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving sonic signalsindicative of one or more words uttered by an authorized user of amobile device; determining that the one or more words correlate with anemergency situation out of a plurality of predefined emergencysituations stored in the mobile device; monitoring, after determiningthat the one or more words correlate with the emergency situation, oneor more physiological signals of the authorized user; determining thatthe emergency situation satisfies a threshold based on the one or morewords in conjunction with the one or more physiological signals, whereindetermining the emergency situation satisfying the threshold isassociated with a confidence level that has been increased as a resultof utilizing the one or more physiological signals in addition to theone or more words; and performing one or more tasks, after determiningthat the emergency situation satisfies the threshold, wherein the one ormore tasks comprise recording additional phrases monitored by the mobiledevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more physiologicalsignals are transmitted from a separate device that the authorized usercarries.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the one or morephysiological signals comprises monitoring changes in the one or morephysiological signals.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningthat the one or more words correlate with the emergency situationcomprises determining that the one or more words correspond to a phrasefrom a set of phrases stored in the mobile device.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: collecting, after determining that the oneor more words correlate with the emergency situation, data includingcurrent time, a geographic location of the mobile device, informationabout the geographic location including crime rates or business entitiesin a near-by area including the geographic location, or a combinationthereof.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the confidence level isfurther increased as a result of utilizing the data.
 7. A method,comprising: receiving sonic signals indicative of one or more wordsuttered by an authorized user of a mobile device; determining that theone or more words correlate with an emergency situation out of aplurality of predefined emergency situations stored in the mobiledevice; monitoring, after determining that the one or more wordscorrelate with the emergency situation, one or more physiologicalsignals of the authorized user; determining that the emergency situationsatisfies a threshold based on the one or more words in conjunction withthe one or more physiological signals, wherein determining the emergencysituation satisfying the threshold is associated with a confidence levelthat has been increased as a result of utilizing the one or morephysiological signals in addition to the one or more words; andperforming one or more tasks, after determining that the emergencysituation satisfies the threshold, wherein the emergency situation is afirst emergency situation of the plurality of predefined emergencysituations and the threshold is a first threshold assigned to the firstemergency situation, and wherein the plurality of predefined emergencysituations includes a second emergency situation assigned with a secondthreshold different than the first threshold.
 8. A method, comprising:receiving sonic signals indicative of one or more words uttered by anauthorized user of a mobile device; determining that the one or morewords correlate with an emergency situation out of a plurality ofpredefined emergency situations stored in the mobile device; monitoring,after determining that the one or more words correlate with theemergency situation, one or more physiological signals of the authorizeduser; determining that the emergency situation satisfies a thresholdbased on the one or more words in conjunction with the one or morephysiological signals, wherein determining the emergency situationsatisfying the threshold is associated with a confidence level that hasbeen increased as a result of utilizing the one or more physiologicalsignals in addition to the one or more words; and performing one or moretasks, after determining that the emergency situation satisfies thethreshold, wherein the one or more words include a hidden passcode forthe mobile device to determine that the one or more words correlate withthe emergency situation.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one ormore tasks comprise making a phone call to a contact out of a group ofcontacts corresponding to the emergency situation.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: selecting the contact out of the group ofcontacts based on past response history of the contact, a geographiclocation of the contact with respect to a current geographic location ofthe mobile device, preconfigured preference of the authorized user, or acombination thereof.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the phone callis a first phone call and the contact is a first contact of the group ofcontacts, the method further comprises: making a second phone call to asecond contact out of the group of contacts when the first phone call isnot answered.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more taskscomprise making multiple phone calls to multiple contacts out of a groupof contacts corresponding to the emergency situation.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: selecting the multiple contacts out of thegroup of contacts based on past response history of the multiplecontacts, geographic locations of the multiple contacts with respect toa current geographic location of the mobile device, preconfiguredpreference of the authorized user, or a combination thereof.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein an artificial intelligence (Al) algorithm isutilized for determining that the one or more words correlate with theemergency situation, determining that the emergency situation satisfiesthe threshold, or determining the confidence level associated withdetermining that the emergency situation satisfies the threshold.